THE first practical steps towards planning the demolition of damp and mouldy Thurrock tower blocks are set to be taken by Thurrock Council.

Its plan is to demolish three tower blocks in Blackshots, Grays, and replace them with new homes.

The council's cabinet has agreed to begin moving tenants from the Blackshots estate in order to begin the demolition of the three 11-storey tower blocks containing 168 homes.

The council is currently being led by Essex County Council commissioners because of its £1.5 billion debt and must have their approval for any spending or borrowing but at its latest meeting the Conservative-run cabinet was able to give the green light to the initial stages of the development.

At the meeting Cllr Luke Spillman, portfolio holder for housing, said he had spent a decade working on a remedy for Blackshots, and was happy to present a report to cabinet.

He said: "This will kickstart moving residents out and provide payments for home loss and disturbance."

Design work for the new estate will also now begin and Cllr Spillman gave assurances commissioners appeared willing to back the scheme to the building stage.

He added: "The actual full sum of money has not been guaranteed by the commissioners in this report but that's not to say they are against that money because I don't think it would have progressed to demolition at this stage if they didn't see the value in progressing to build as well, so the words coming from commissioners have been very warm on us being able to borrow the money from the housing revenue account to complete the development.

"I'm really not just delighted but a little bit emotional to present this report to cabinet. We should all be proud that we've got to this stage."

Ward councillor Joy Redsell has also fought for Blackshots tenants.

She said: "It's just brilliant news. We've been fighting this so long and feels like we're actually getting somewhere. We are hopefully in a very good place. My only worry at the moment is that we are not going to take any green belt for the use of putting new homes in.

"We've been working so hard for this for so long and I can't wait to get them down. If you look at them now you can see the water running down the outside of the buildings now. They just need to come down."

Last year Thurrock Nub News reported the ruling Tory group was sticking to its pledge to bring the towers down.